March 25, 2019

I've written before about the special place my heart holds for Tunisia, my dear friend Synda, and our shared love of cooking. This is a recipe she taught me, many years ago, a Tunisian classic called Ommek Houria. It's kind of like a pesto, maybe more of a spread... some people even call it carrot caviar! You can learn from the pro and watch Synda preparing it on her beautiful online Tunisian cooking show here! I love this recipe because the ingredients are fairly commonplace, but the flavour combination is new and exciting.

A couple months ago, I volunteered to cook a benefit dinner to raise funds for the Madagascar School Project, and for the appetizers, I made little crostini (baguette toasts) with Ommek Houria, and also Slata Mechouia (a Tunisian dish of gilled pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes all mashed up with spices and olive oil... sooo good). They were gobbled up in a flash!

This is a great recipe at this time of year, when there is not much in the way of fresh produce at farmers market, but still many farmers trying to sell off the last of their winter root crops before the new season begins.

It's been a while since I wrote on this blog. Is anyone still out there?? Between the PBS blog and my film "Modified", I've had my hands quite full lately, and I've missed you!

Last summer, I started a whole new format with my cooking videos. Now, each video features a different farmer or gardener, with a recipe from their kitchen and an ingredient from their farm or garden. It's been such a wonderful opportunity to meet food producers and learn about what they grow and how they cook it. I'm on a little hiatus now until the weather warms again but I'll be back at it soon, with some brand new videos coming your way. Here was one of my favorite videos out of the five I created in the new format:

Some of you have asked where you can see my film Modified. It's been doing the film festival circuit the past year and a half, and showing in theaters and at community screenings and it will soon be released on DVD and for digital online streaming. In the meantime, do check out the list of upcoming public screenings on the film's website, and you can also put in a request to host a community screening of the film. I'm also very excited to announce that the film's first national broadcast (in Canada) takes place this Friday, March 29 on CBC television at 9:00 pm across Canada (9:30 pm in NL). The CBC version of the film is a shorter one, 44 minutes long, whereas the feature-length version is 87 minutes.

I'm not gonna lie, it's felt a little scary and heavy at times to put such a personal film out into the world, especially one that challenges the industrial model agriculture used to produce much of our food. I've recently been reminded of just how toxic the online world can be, with trolls and staunch industrial ag defenders making angry and hateful comments about the film, even without having seen it. It's a reminder of the powerful lobby out there, whose purpose is to defend pesticides & industrialized agriculture at all cost, even when the science clearly shows that the way we are producing our food needs to change. From the catastrophic collapse of global insect populations caused by intensive pesticide use, to the ever-growing dead zones in our oceans and lakes caused by fertilizer run-off, to the massive release of greenhouse gas emissions created by industrial agriculture, the need for change urgently need to be addressed. It's become more important than ever before to support local, organic agriculture, which is trying to take us in a different direction, one that provides more biodiversity, healthier soils, and healthier foods.

PS: One more thing, I'm doing a fun little shampoo bar giveaway this week on my Instagram page! Did you know if every American switched from plastic-bottled shampoo to these little guys below, the manufacture and disposal of 552 million plastic shampoo bottles would be avoided. That's how many plastic shampoo bottles are thrown out each year in the US alone!)

But let's get back to carrots shall we?
And this Ommek Houria.
Here's how it's made:

To begin, cook the carrots. In Tunisia, this is usually done by peeling them, chopping them, and boiling them in water until soft. It's perhaps less traditional but I often like to roast the carrots whole, in a 375F oven, with a little olive oil rubbed on to coat them, because I've read carrots keep their nutritious value more when roasted whole. You can use either method, so long as you end up with carrots that are nice, soft and tender.

Sautée the finely chopped onion in 1 Tbsp of olive oil, on medium heat, until nice and golden.

Now mash the carrots (with a fork, or in a food processor). If using the food processor don't puree them until smooth, they should still be a bit chunky. Now add the cooked onion and all the other remaining ingredients. Mix well. You should have a nice chunky bright orange mash. Taste, and add a bit more salt or spices, as needed.

Traditionally, Ommek Houria is served with toppings such as olives and hard boiled eggs, a good glug of olive oil on top, and a fresh baguette to scoop it up with. It can also be served as a spread on top of toasted baguette, as is shown in the photo. Enjoy!

December 25, 2017

I'm sitting here wondering... is there a limit to how much butter a person can handle? I walked into the kitchen yesterday armed with 2 pounds of butter which somehow instantly disappeared into the parade of my usual holiday concoctions (I tend to think of it as my own little trifecta of holiday doughs... rich and unrestrained): Tourte Milanaise for breakfast (this year I managed to tackle my very own puff pastry thanks to a tattered copy of The Joy of Cooking which expertly guided me through the process), Tourtière for dinner (with an all-butter spelt crust), and of course my mom's boozy, eggy, yeasty, buttery Baba au Rhum... (my belly is already all warmed up from the most recent one). It would all be fine and dandy but the thing is, this year I'm spending a quiet, snowy, secluded Christmas with my love... which means... there are only two of us... which means... we're well on our way to chowing down, unaided, 2 pounds of butters worth of Christmas baking. Yeesh. We're balancing it out with walks and salads... but still... Luckily, I was brought up with the notion that these cold northern climes call for plenty of fortification and that the pillars of a well-spent winter include a pile of long-postponed books, a few zealous knitting projects, and importantly, heaps of butter (organic and grass-fed, bien sûr) and hearty baked goods.

As you may have gathered from my lack of blogposts this past year, it's been a non-stop race to finish my film, and this blog took the back-burner for a bit. But I've missed it and I'm excited to finally get some days to rest by the fire, browse new cookbooks, gather up fresh recipes to try, and find my way around a warmly humming kitchen again. It's been an incredible year and I want to thank all of you who so kindly encouraged me and contributed to helping me finish this film. It was by far one of the most challenging projects I've ever embarked on. I often questioned whether I could pull it off and I never could have done it without your support. In the next few days, I'll be sending out a proper film update to all those who contributed to the film's crowdfunding campaign as well as the Indiegogo perks you've been so patient about (thank you!!) including your very own copy of the film to watch. The film had its world premiere in September and has so far won 5 awards at film festivals, we're on a roll! It will continue the film festival circuit into the new year, as well as theatrical and community showings, so stay tuned for a screening near you (and stay updated by following the film's Facebook page). I wish you a restful and joyful holiday season, and a very merry Christmas day to those that celebrate it. I'm sharing my new Christmas video below, and my mom's fruit salad, which she always made around the holidays to counteract that aforementioned butter bonanza. For holiday pizazz, she would adorn her fruit salads with either a few glugs of an aromatic booze or some floral essence, sometimes a bit of dried fruit such as currants, nuts or seeds for a crunchy topping, and a dollop of tart yoghurt. So refreshing between all those doughy delights!

My mom's holiday fruit salad(Think of this more as a guide than a recipe and customize it to your tastes and what you have on hand.)The salad:6 to 8 cups of chopped fruit of your choice (I like to use a mix of grapefruit, orange, pear, apples, bananas and pomegranate)The perfume:About 1 to 2 Tbsp brandy or other liqueur, or a teaspoon of orange blossom waterThe fixin's:1/4 cup chopped nuts or seeds (for crunch)1/3 cup chopped dried fruit (for chew)The topping:Yoghurt (or whipped cream)In a large serving bowl, mix the liqueur or floral water with the chopped fresh fruit as well as the dried fruit. Serve in individual bowls with a generous dollop of yoghurt and a scattering of chopped nuts. Enjoy!

February 28, 2017

Ahoy again from the land of film finishing! As you may already know, I'm in the final stages of finishing my first feature documentary film. Very exciting times and I'm getting so stoked for the film's release!! In an effort to raise the funds necessary to finish and release the film, I'm running an Indiegogo campaign. Because I only have 8 days left and I'm still very far from my goal, several lovely companies have offered beautiful giveaway gift packages for anyone who contributes $5 or more to the film. The list of prizes is below and here's how it works: at the end of my Indiegogo campaign in 8 days, I will put all the names of all the lovely contributors in a hat and draw 9 lucky winners. Based on the order they are chosen, each winner will have the chance to pick the prize of choice. For example, if your name is drawn first, you get first choice at one of the lovely prizes below, and so on until all the prizes have been claimed. So far, there are 40 eligible contributors to the campaign and 9 prizes, meaning currently, there's basically a 1 in 4 chance of winning something. As an added bonus, my amazing film distributor at KinoSmith and Blue Ice Docs is going to match all contributions made to the campaign, dollar-for-dollar, (up to the 20k goal) in an effort to get this film to the finish line and out into the world!

A stunning 5 1/2 qt. Dutch Oven in the color of your choice (valued at over $300) from Le Creuset (ships to US only):

Winner: Abby S, congrats!

A lovely caramel and flower seeds gift package from Fat Toad Farm (ships to US only):

Winner: Carrie B, congrats!

A scrumptious gift package of certified organic chocolates including chocolate bars and baking chocolate as well as an all-chocolate cookbook from Theo Chocolates (valued approx. $75, ships to both US and Canada):

Winner: Rose M, congrats!
A gift package of an assortment of over 50 certified organic seed packets for your garden, everything from vegetables to flowers and herbs (valued at over $300 per gift package) from High Mowing Seeds - there will be 5 of these prizes offered to 5 lucky winners (ships to both Canada and the US)

Winners: Sarah S, Wilf G, Rebecca L, Andree L, Av S, congrats!!

A gorgeous certified organic cereal gift package from Nature's Path (valued at over $100, ships to both US and Canada):